He exited the room and hurried out of the bedroom. He grabbed the banister, vaulting over it and dropping all three floors down the center of the spiral stairwell.
Gideon landed on his feet, remaining in a crouch as he tilted his head and altered his senses until they were at his most acute. He was out of time and he had not even had the chance to astral project to Noah and tell him where Legna was in case…
…just in case.
“I feel you waiting for me, medic.”
The voice was artificially enhanced in volume within his thoughts, causing him remarkable pain. He realized then exactly how powerful his enemy had grown. A Demon had never dabbled in black arts outside of a pentagram before. Gideon would never have expected it to have this kind of effect, this extraordinary enhancement of power. But it was corruptive all the same, he could feel it, smell it, the dark stain of it spread deeply over Ruth’s soul as she winked into existence with a flash of strange, dark light.
Gideon gained his full height, narrowing his eyes on the bold bitch who dared to threaten his home and his family. But he kept his temper, as always. He had not lived over a millennium without learning that losing your head in your emotions when confronted with a battle was a sure way of signing your own death certificate.
“Ruth,” he greeted coldly. “Even you cannot be this mad.”
Ruth did not seem to pay attention to him. She was tilting her head, looking up toward the ceiling with curiosity.
“Sleeping without your wife on Samhain?” She made a tsking sound. “Am I supposed to believe she is not here? You are right, I am not that mad.”
The cool blond’s eyes roamed thoughtfully over the Ancient, her gaze clearly avaricious. Her lush body curved, beckoning in a way that had once been quite alluring, and still might be had she not chosen the path she was now clinging to so greedily. But now she was as sinuous as a poisonous reptile, and clearly just as deadly as she was beautiful.
“I once had the most terrible crush on you,” she confessed, her countenance amused. “You were so powerful. And handsome. Quite handsome.” Ruth slid a hand over one smooth hip, her movement obvious and practiced. “Does your hidden wife know we were once together on Beltane?”
“That was three hundred years ago,” Gideon said, his tone as neutral as ever. “And if I recall, women were somewhat scarce in our population at the time.”
Ruth looked as if she had been slapped, and in effect she had been. But a second later her face flared with outraged color.
“How dare you!” she hissed. “You enjoyed it well enough at the time! Even you cannot deny that!”
Gideon let her indulge in her rage. He was intent on remaining focused on the power that was outside the walls of his home, gathering far too quickly even for his comfort and abilities. He had been right to conceal Legna from them. Ruth would never be able to figure out what he had done with his wife; she was not quite that powerful. But his mate was vulnerable, left upstairs in a state that simulated death in order to mask her presence. If the condition was not reversed within an hour, she and the baby would be in terrible danger. But in order to revive her from the stasis, he had to remain alive and must protect her by being victorious in this encounter.
The odds of this diminished with each new presence that he sensed. Gideon was strong, but not against the odds that were becoming all too probable with every passing minute. He should have known better. He should have never brought Legna into territory Ruth could discover with a little creative ease. But there would be time for self-recrimination later.
“Ruth, is there a purpose behind your visit besides a walk down memory lane over a quick tumble behind a random bush most of your lifetime ago?” He narrowed frigid silver eyes on her. “It must be, because you could not possibly be so stupid as to try and take on me.”
“It is exactly what I intend to do. I am more powerful than even you can imagine, Gideon. And I am not alone.”
“Forgive me for saying so, but it is not as if I could not smell your stench from a mile away. You are corrupted, Ruth. You must be aware that the stench of the others no longer affects you because of that.”
Gideon was already mentally reaching toward the female Demon’s body, her physiology, preparing to manipulate her into death the moment he could. But her chemistry was troubling, confusing. She was transforming on levels even she was unaware of. It made her unreadable, a puzzle that would take too much time for him to sort through.
Ruth gave him that faint smile again, the one that reached too far into her mad eyes. She was a powerful Mind Demon and no doubt was aware of his attempt, and his stalling out.
“You know, Gideon,” she said softly, stepping so close to him he had to fight off the urge to back up from the corrupt smell of her. “I may have been a quick encounter for you, but I know she is not. She and your unborn baby. And I will find her, even if we have to burn the house to the ground to do it.”
“You will have to go through me first, traitor.”
“Exactly my plan,” she mused.
“Then you better call in your little minions.”
Gideon moved so quickly, he had his hand around her throat before she could even anticipate it in his thoughts. She was slammed back into the nearest wall a second later, Gideon using the pain and the surprise to keep her from concentrating on her abilities. But she was an Elder and far too empowered to be held at bay with disruptive tricks for long. So the medic did not waste time; he immediately cut off her air and the blood supply to her brain. She gagged, her eyes wide as she looked into the deadly threat in his eyes.
“Your problem,” he murmured to her, almost in a lover’s voice, “is that you waste time boasting and building yourself up with empty talk. You should have struck while you could.”
While he throttled the Demon defector, he reached out to the perimeter of his home, grabbing unsuspecting necromancers one by one with sheer force of power and will, stopping their black hearts dead in their chests. For all their power of magic, the necromancers were still as fragile as any human, making it a ridiculously simple task in many respects.
The others, watching their comrades fall inexplicably, began to panic and rushed toward the house to find the source of the damage to their ranks before he could cause any further harm. They were clearly shocked at how easily he had done this attack. Once again, Ruth had not prepared them for what she was leading them into. It would perhaps be his one true advantage.
Ruth regrouped even as he throttled her consciousness out of her. Her eyes rolled back as she accessed her power, and he felt her pushing into his mind. The force was stunning and impressive. Gideon was blinded by pain, his free hand reflexively going to his head as she sought to turn his brain to a pulp with her telekinetic power. He had never met a female telekinetic before, but Mind Demons were relatively new to their species and, poisoned as she was, it could be an unnatural mutation. It took all of his mental fortitude to fight her off, and even so he felt blood drip from his nose as it filled his pressured sinuses.
When he was forced to take his attention from the others, they invaded the house within minutes. The evil flock of women hovered like wingless harpies over the floor, speaking the tainted words that would bring forth the electrical bolts of power they wielded during attack.
Gideon spilt his attention. He struck Ruth in the face, dazing her with the sharp thrust of his palm to her delicate nose. He could have killed her with the blow had he been more focused, but he was also reaching for magic-users, muting several of them in a sweep of thought, cutting them off from the verbal means necessary for access to their power, sending them crashing to the floor.
Others he panicked with blindness, others still with deafness.
It bought him time only.
Gideon felt something strike him, the unmistakable puncture of teeth sinking into his calf. That was when he dropped a barely conscious Ruth to the floor and spun around to face her daughter. The spoiled automaton that was Ruth’s offspring, Mary, wa
s more powerful as well. Gideon felt it. He breathed it in as the wicked stench eddied toward him. She was drawing swarms of wild dogs, wolves, and even poisonous snakes in through every smashed window and doorway she could, coiled serpents even dropping down the chimney and into the cold ashes of the fireplace.
The animals were not responsible for the compulsion Mary had them under, so Gideon was pained when he had to reach to break the neck of the wolf that had buried its canines deeply into his flesh. By the time he turned, there were a dozen others on him.
Razorlike teeth sliced into his flesh from every direction. All he could do was cut off the pain and the blood as they tried to drag him down, seeking access to his throat.
Gideon considered that he might have made a mistake by not waking Legna and allowing her the freedom of thought to escape. But then again, he knew his beloved wife all too well. She would have insisted on being at his back, fighting where she had been born to fight. And that was exactly why he had done what he had done. He would rather die than see her hurt or worse.
But by leaving her helpless, that might be just what he had sentenced her to.
Gideon could only do one thing to possibly save her.
Though it would take several highly talented medics to reverse the stasis he had put her in, and even though they might not succeed, he had to try.
Gideon gave up his fight and projected his astral self into the dawn, reaching for Noah as the attacking forces began to drag him down.
He was not even aware of the sudden, violent wind that made the house shudder from foundation to rafters.
Siena woke with a start, her heart racing as her head rang with warnings and filled with bloodred rage.
She turned over swiftly, reaching for Elijah in panic and feeling an awful, clawing sensation of dread and despair as her hand came up with empty sheets and blankets.
He had left her, and as sure as she knew that, she knew he was in trouble. Oh, he was trying to keep it from her on some sort of automatic, protective level, but he could not hide the rage and horror flooding through him because of whatever it was he was seeing.
She closed her eyes, trying to concentrate, wishing suddenly she had never let him out of her sight in the first place. From what Gideon had told her, if they had spent the days since Jinaeri’s cavern together, they would have had a stronger bond mentally, to the point where she would have seen through his eyes perfectly.
The minute she thought of Gideon, his image flashed into her mind, but it was washed away by silver and red.
Blood red.
Siena flew from her bed, transforming into the Werecat on the run as she flew out of her quarters. The guards were startled to see her exit in such a wild manner, and in her Wereform to boot.
“I want Anya this moment! Tell her to meet me at the Demon ambassador’s home with troops immediately!”
“But Majesty—”
“Do not question me! Do as I say this instant!”
“Majesty, it is daylight,” the guard pressed on, though clearly loath to countermand her again.
She did not blame him. She hadn’t appeared to make a rational movement or decision in over a week. But this…this was something even she could not fight.
She had a sudden wash of terror, and tears of frustration, burning behind her eyes. Her hand went to her heart as it threatened to beat right out of her chest. Elijah needed her. Needed her help. Gideon as well. She was sure of it. They both were closer to her heart than she had been willing to admit, and now when they needed her, she was utterly helpless to aid them.
The sun.
A thrice-damned star hundreds of thousands of miles away, and yet it prevented her from going to Elijah’s side.
“Your Majesty remembers it is Samhain,” he prompted gently. “The ambassador and her mate were attending the functions of their own court for the holiday and said they would not return until tonight.”
Even worse! It meant they were in England. Thousands of miles away from the remote Russian province the Lycanthropes dwelled in. As fast as she was, she would never be that fast. She would be forced to use the modern human conveniences that would take hours despite their jetting speed.
Siena suddenly wished her court was full of Demons. Any one of them, especially Mind Demons who could teleport, would have her where she needed to be in a heartbeat.
For the first time in her life, Siena truly felt the limitations of her race and her personal abilities. Oh, she had felt somewhat helpless during her father’s regime, but at least then she had managed to maintain a fair rule while he was off trying to conquer unconquerable foes. This was something utterly different.
But Siena refused to give up.
“Find a half-breed runner and send them to Anya. Tell her to assemble only half-breed troops. They, at least, are not affected by the sunlight. And for once I would give up all my forms if I could but say the same. Time is of the essence, so you will go this instant! Move!”
This time there was no argument. The Minotaur female ran off, leaving her perplexed male counterpart behind. He was trying to glance into the bedroom behind him as unobtrusively as he could.
“What is amiss, my lady?”
“My mate is in danger. Dreadful danger,” she explained, her hands coasting over her furred stomach anxiously, clearly uncaring of what the guard thought about the fact that her mate ought to have been in bed with her on their wedding day. “And he is so far away. I need to help him, Synnoro. I cannot lose him like this! Not because I cannot reach him because of the damned sun!” The Queen paced a couple of short steps. “Goddess, please,” she prayed softly, closing her eyes as she tried to think, “please help me!”
“My lady, what of Myriad?”
Siena stopped suddenly, her eyes widening.
Myriad. The half-breed in Noah’s court who was acting the part of her ambassador to the Demon King. There were no technologies in a Demon household, but, unwilling to give up such luxuries of humanity because Demon chemistry made such things go completely awry—sometimes dangerously so—Myriad had chosen to live in the village a few miles away from Noah’s castle and the discombobulating influences of the Demons that constantly came and went there.
“She has a phone,” Siena whispered, sudden hope flaring in her breast. “Synnoro! She has a phone!”
Siena forgot etiquette and rank and leapt up to throw her arms around the furry guard, bussing him loudly on the cheek before hitting feet to the floor at a run. The castle had been stripped of technology when Gideon and Legna had arrived; everything from lighting to communications had been restored to the state the castle had been in during the five years of Gideon’s captivity among them. But Anya would have a phone in her residence, and Siena hadn’t thought she would ever be so grateful for so simple a convenience.
All she needed to do was reach it fast enough.
Noah woke with a disoriented jolt, the sudden rush of nearby and alien energy seeping into his senses. He opened his eyes to see the Lycanthrope half-breed standing over him, reaching for him as if she were going to touch him. Instinctively, his hand shot out and grabbed the reaching wrist, jerking the raven-haired woman to her knees beside the bed.
“You had better have an explanation for being in my bedroom uninvited, ambassador,” he threatened her, sitting up as he twisted her captive hand further.
The room was dimmed by drawn shades and drapes, and her eyes were yellow in the dark, more blatantly so than in gas or torchlight. It was eerie seeing them staring at him so unblinkingly. She had told him that, had she been full-bred, she would have been some sort of wild dog or wolf. It clearly showed in her eyes in that moment.
“Your Warrior Captain and your medic are in trouble. My Queen thought you might like to know.”
Noah was on his feet in an instant, releasing Myriad as he reached for clothing.
“Explain!” he commanded, not bothering to waste time with apologies.
“She says that Elijah is wherever Gideon is, and that
both are in terrible danger.”
“I thought Elijah was with Siena tonight. Gideon said—”
“Apparently he left her bed while she was sleeping. I did not think it wise to question that fact of my Queen.”
Noah looked at the enigmatic brunette, lifting a corner of his mouth as he tucked his shirt into his jeans.
“A wise decision.”
“No doubt,” she agreed in the easy humor that had helped her win over many thickheaded Demons these past months. Siena had proven herself beyond wise by sending this sturdy, half-bred woman to him on her behalf. She had the perfect temperament for making friends, and, clearly, never held a grudge for more than a heartbeat.
“Can you join me?”
“The sun does not affect me. I am at your service.”
“Good. We have to find someone who can notify Jacob and others. I have the terrible feeling we are going to need help.”
“And Siena. She will have both our heads if we do not fetch her as well,” Myriad insisted.
“Agreed!”
CHAPTER 14
If there was a nature of things that Noah knew with perfect clarity and instinct, it was smoke and fire.
As they neared the home of his family, he could smell and feel both.
Terror flooded Noah as he came over the crest of the mountain, dragging himself and the half-breed out of smoky form and into solid shape. The only thing he could see of the house was smoke and the tumble of flames roaring from gaps left by shattered glass. Everything not made of stone was conflagrating easily and wildly because of its age and richness in fuel.
“Legna!”
Noah released his power and seized the flames burning the structure. The heated backlash that followed as he violently sucked the fire’s energy into himself literally blew Myriad off her feet. She landed about ten feet away on the charred grass, shaking her head as she tried to resettle her jostled brainpan. Again, she took it in stride, not even bothering to dust herself off as she scrambled after the Demon King.
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